Christopher Connelly; Starred on TV

Christopher Connelly, the ruggedly handsome featured performer in the “Peyton Place” television series of the latter 1960s, has died of lung cancer, his sister said Thursday. He was 47.

Connelly, who had suffered from the disease for two years, died at his Burbank home Wednesday, said Colleen Connelly Moss. His long-time companion, Carol Zander, was with the actor when he died, Moss added.

Connelly, who played the role of younger son Norman Harrington on the controversial series about love and lust in a New England town, was one of the few original members of the “Peyton Place” cast to remain with television’s first prime-time soap opera from the beginning of the series’ five-year run in 1964 to its finale in 1969. Other members of the cast included Ryan O’Neal, Dorothy Malone, Mia Farrow and Barbara Parkins.

In 1985 Malone, Parkins and Connelly were reunited in “Peyton Place: The Next Generation,” a two-hour movie for television.

Connelly also starred in the “Paper Moon” TV series in 1974 as Moses (Moze) Pray, the itinerant confidence man and father of Addie Pray, portrayed by Jodie Foster. The short-lived series was based on the 1973 movie starring O’Neal and his daughter, Tatum.

Connelly was on the TV screen often in episodes of “Police Story,” “Fantasy Island,” “Trapper John, M.D.” “Mannix” and other series.

His motion picture credits include “Benji,” “Hawmps,” “Liar’s Moon” and “They Also Kill Their Masters.”

Connelly, a native of Wichita, Kan., attended the Missouri Military Academy, Denver’s Regis College and the Pasadena Playhouse.

He was divorced and is survived by two sons, four brothers and two sisters.

Funeral services are scheduled today at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.